Mortimer Brockert
December 13, 2013 8:57 PM
Returning Feast by Mortimer Brockert
As far as Mortimer was concerned, the holidays could be kind of a bunch of...nonsense really. A lot of fuss for no real reason. In fact, what really got to him other than the unnecessary social obligations with stupid people talking about trivial things, was the way the Muggles acted. Like they'd invented everything about the winter holidays, when they'd just stolen things from the old festival of Saturnalia, a feast that honored the Roman God of Agriculture, Saturn. Who had, naturally, been a wizard as were all the Roman Gods and Goddesses. They were simply thought to have all been Gods and Goddesses by idiot Muggles who did not have the power they did.Those were the good old days. Before Muggles got arrogant and jealous of those powers they'd worshipped before and a major case of sour grapes set in. Muggles claimed that the powers wizards had were not a good thing and instead that wizards were evil horrible people, that their powers were given to them by an evil fat man named Santa that now came out once a year to celebrate with the wizards and their evil powers and eat Muggle children who did not feed the fat man's appetite and bribe him with milk and cookies.
Then, Muggles started trying to burn wizards and witches as if they were bad people instead of worshipping them like before, leading to the Statute of Secrecy after that mess in Salem where it was mostly Muggle outcasts being killed in the first place. The idea of being magical being a bad thing was still a very offensive idea though.
However, none of this really mattered at the moment. This idiocy was over for another year, and now it was time to get back to learning, something as a good Aladren alum, Mortimer relished. Today Kiva was unable to make the Returning Feast and in the interest of giving him more responsibility as the future Headmaster, he was to make a speech. It would be short and to the point, because he knew that when he'd been young, the last thing he'd wanted to do was listen to the school Head blather on when he was hungry after the wagon ride. Besides, Mortimer was a believer in saying only what was needed to be said.
"Welcome back, students. I hope you had a good holiday." Okay, that was a lie, he really didn't care either way, for the most part but people...liked when you wished them well, even when you didn't really give a flying hippogriff. "Before we begin our feast, I have two announcements. One, we have a new staff member, welcome Miss Jera Valson, who will be subbing for classes when your regular professors cannot make it for one reason or another." He didn't really know much about Miss Valson, her mother had been one of his predecessors but the girl herself had come in much later than his nephew Cory and a bit earlier than his niece Alessa, the latter being quite a bit younger than the former. "Secondly, our Midsummer Event this year will be, as you know, the Concert. You should have gotten your groups already and should begin working on your acts if you haven't already." If they couldn't figure out that for props and costumes they should make stuff in the Art room or get it sent from home and that the Music room had instruments, then they lacked the common sense a worm was born with and probably deserved to fail in front of their peers.
OOC-I, as an author, disagree with Mortimer's blasphemous take on the holidays, and apologize for it wholeheartedly, though do back him up on the part about hating being forced into small talk with idiots. However, I realize that it's not like that for everyone and wish everyone a happy holiday season anyway. And genuinely do "give a flying hippogriff". :)
Subthreads: Same story; new chapter by Professor Jera Valson
Hoping to make one friend (Tag Morgana) by Ariel Thornton
Hoping the Holiday had been just a strange dream by Carter Browning
Yum food. by Wendy Canterbury with Rupert Princeton, Wendy
Am I the only one who has weird holidays? (Tag Ava) by Dimitri Porter with Dimitri, Ava Fletcher
Feeling very un-Pecari-ish...bummer by Clara Abernathy
Still a little nervous. by Charlotte Spencer with Emrys Lucan, Charlotte
Let me go back. by Liliana Bannister with Atlas Primred, Pecari
Shocked Silence by Aubrielle Thornton
Holiday Surprises by Darina Porter
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Mortimer Brockert
Returning Feast
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Mortimer Brockert
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Liliana Bannister
December 20, 2013 2:14 PM
Let me go back. by Liliana Bannister
Though Liliana had settled in by the end of her term, going back for the winter holidays had only brought her back a few steps. It wasn't that she didn't like Sonora- she was on the Quidditch Team, how could she dislike it? But going home had reminded her of all the fun things there were to do there and all the fun people to see. She had visited with her cousins and they had taken her with them to visit their friends. She had met up with her old friends too but they had all gone to Hogwarts, been placed in different houses, and grown apart. In the past two years that Liliana was away from home a lot had changed. Her two best friends were now mortal enemies having been sorted into Gryffindor and Slytherin and forgotten their friendship from before. Liliana privately thought the whole thing was ridiculous as they were both pretty similar to what they had been before, but Tanya had been adamant that Noey had changed while Noey was determined that Tanya was simply being misguided into thinking that Gryffindors were above all others. It was silly as her cousins had friends that were in different houses and Liliana herself had been friendly with a few people not from her own house.Though that part of the trip had been a bit traumatizing, she had still enjoyed seeing Tanya and Noey on separate occasions- hanging out with Noey's brothers had always been a delight and Tanya's older sister always took them out for tea. The Christmas and Hanukkah balls at her grandmother's house had gone very well though she had needed to split her time evenly between her cousins, Noey, and Tanya in order to keep the peace and the latter two from starting a fight. And her grandmother had greatly enjoyed the dance Liliana had been practicing for her so that part was joyous. But the winter holidays ended too quickly for Liliana and she felt as though she were being ripped away from freezing England to return to warm Arizona none too kindly. Indeed, she didn't like traveling by Portkey, and the return was not an all too smooth one.
Upon her entrance into the hall, Liliana looked around, half-expecting someone to grab her arm and pull her to a seat as she was sure would have happened should she have been at Hogwarts what with her cousins and already-made friends. However, she was crest-fallen to remember that she hadn't really made any friends during the first half of the term and so quietly (which had become her new persona at Sonora, not at all close to the loud, bouncy Liliana of England) found a seat at the Pecari table amid the eager chattering. After the speech, which was rather short (though Liliana did not like long speeches, she had wished this one was longer as when the Headmaster had been talking she felt reassured that no one was looking at her funny for not talking to anyone), Liliana looked around the table to find something to eat that might please her. Her eyes located some soft looking rolls and jam and decided to munch on that whilst picking out a more balanced and full meal.
"Pardon me," Liliana tapped on her neighbor's shoulder. "But would you mind passing me the pot of jam? Thank you." She spread the delicious substance on the roll. "How were your holidays?" she asked conversationally, eyes still locked on the beautiful food in front of her. The question came so naturally to her that she a little surprised at how easily she had opened up at this feast when at the last one she had been so disagreeable, but Waverly had forgiven her so that was okay.
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Liliana Bannister
Let me go back.
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Liliana Bannister
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Atlas Primred, Pecari
December 24, 2013 5:11 AM
Sorry but you aren't getting off that easy. by Atlas Primred, Pecari
To say Atlas was happy to be able to go home for the holidays was a huge understatement. Although he didn’t mind Sonora too much, he felt rather lonely not having a close friend there to talk to. He was able to have a decent conversation with Leonidas in potions earlier that year, but he didn’t feel as though he knew him well enough to be considered a friend. Like every Christmas, Atlas spent the holiday and the 9 days of Simbang Gabi at the Davidsons’. Due to Steven Davidson being a muggle he had to change a few of the details of his new school, mostly the things involving magic. Even with the edited version of his stories, Steven was completely infatuated with Atlas' classmates, saying that they were very "interesting" people. The remainder of the party was just like any other gathering, the boys played video games, read comics, and of course teased Katie a little. Luckily for Atlas, Steven hadn’t changed at all in their months apart. He was just that type of person, someone whom Atlas could be away from for a long time and once reunited, he could feel as though nothing had ever changed.His little sister Katie on the other hand had changed quite a bit since he had been gone. After her first few months in Kindergarten she had gone from a shy little princess, to a nonstop talker, although still a total princess. In addition to learning how to read and write, she had developed quite a social life. Atlas’ Mom described how almost every weekend she had a play date or something with friends. In addition, she had a best friend of her own now, a girl named Ann. The two even signed up and began ballet lessons at the same studio. However despite her changes, she was still the adorable little sister who idolized her brother. When Atlas finally arrived home, she hugged him like a koala bear, and wouldn’t release him. Unfortunately, despite her pleas he was unable to perform any of his magic for her due to the underage magic law. Instead he entertained her with some tales of the school and depicting the latest Aladran vs. Crotalus Quidditch game. He decided to leave out the part where Liliana Bannister gave him the cold shoulder after he tried, very courageously, to be friendly and sit next to her. Atlas knew when someone disliked him, but it was usually because he had done something to them first. He couldn’t think of anything that would cause her to have given him such a haughty look that day. Although he didn’t usually hold grudges against girls, she made the entire event awkward for him and completely ruined the first Quidditch game he ever got to see.
Despite his hurt feelings the winter holiday went by quickly. The entire house filled with smells of sweets and delicious home cooked food. In addition, 9 days of yummy Filipino food cooked by Mrs. Davidson trumped any dish Sonora had to offer. There was a sense of family and friends that you just couldn't get from the food the prairie elves made, no matter how tasty it was. However, Atlas once again found himself at Sonora, entering the familiar hall. He was surprised to see Rupert with a sling on his arm. He wondered what had happened to his teammate to put him in such a state. Atlas was about to sit next to him and ask him about it, when he spotted none other than the Snow Princess herself, Liliana, sitting quietly among the other Pecaris.
He calmly sat down next to her just as the headmaster was beginning his speech. Atlas didn’t even bother to pay attention, he was too busy staring at her and thinking about how to extract his revenge. It was almost like déjà-vu the way he was interacting with her. She reminded him of his sister for some reason, which only made it easier for him to want to prank her. He pondered which hoax would get the reaction from her he was seeking. He considered turning her hair a different color with the “multicolfors” spell he had learned in charms class, and began reaching for his wand while he thought of which color would make her the most upset. However his mischievous thoughts where interrupted when she tapped his shoulder asking for the jam. Skeptically he passed her the container. Atlas continued to stare at her, this time a puzzled look spread across his face, when suddenly she asked how his holiday was, her eyes still affixed on her plate. He was a little taken aback by how civilized she was being, completely different than at the Quidditch match. However, he was still upset and couldn’t hold back from a chance to make her feel as uncomfortable as he did the month before.
“It was great,” he said kindly with a smile. “Did you get a lump of coal this year?” he asked semi-jokingly with a smirk. “I mean after all, nice kids don’t completely ignore someone at a Quidditch game who is just trying to be friendly,” he continued, his nonchalant tone trying hard to cover the hurt feelings that filled his voice.
OOC: I got permission to reference Liliana as seen in the post by her author.
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Atlas Primred, Pecari
Sorry but you aren't getting off that easy.
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Atlas Primred, Pecari
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Liliana Bannister
December 26, 2013 6:15 PM
You're one to talk. by Liliana Bannister
Liliana was slightly shocked at Atlas' tone but it only reaffirmed her belief that he wasn't a nice kid. She hadn't talked to him much at Quidditch practise as she had mainly focused on the sport but her three talks with him (during class where he basically called her a princess, during the Aladren/Crotalus match when he acted like he'd forgotten what he'd done, and now here at the feast where he acted like she was the rude one) made her realize that he was not the kind of person she wanted to make friends with at all. She inwardly sighed at her bad luck in finding the wrong sort of person to talk to but put on a brave face to deal with the monster before her. She put a cold face on and derisively smiled back. "I wouldn't know," she replied. "We don't celebrate Christmas." Though a Jewish witch, she knew enough about Christmas and muggles from her friends and tutors. Privately she thought the whole Santa Claus/being good ad bad thing was ridiculous. Children were supposed to behave themselves because that was what was expected of them by their parents and other elders. Not because some fat man would or wouldn't give you presents. "Did you? Rude little boys always do get their comeuppance, don't they."She really hated Atlas Primred. She had only disliked him before, thinking he was a mean boy who didn't care about other's feelings. But now that he was trying to make her out to be the bad guy it just showed that he was also cruel, vindictive, and manipulative. She didn't care, she could be like that too. How many times had she turned a situation around so that one of her cousins took the blame for something she had done? How many times had that cousin then forgiven her when she said it was all "just a big misunderstanding". How many times had she nicked a peppermint cookie and gotten away with it by leaving trails that pointed to others? How many times...but the answer to whatever question would always be too many to count.
Liliana kept back the irritation that she knew was going to creep into her voice. She kept her voice clipped like her grandmother did when frustrated with one of the house elves or another witch or wizard. She made sure to sound as indifferent as possible- Atlas was no one to tell her how she should behave, especially not after he had started everything in class last semester. Besides, she had never heard of his family name which meant he was a nobody to her and anything she said to him would not affect her family in the slightest. She was planning on moving back to England after she graduated Sonora anyway, having figured out over the holiday that she would never be transferring. She took a careful bite of the roll, making sure not to drop any crumbs and posed her next question. "What are you anyway?" She knew that could be taken a number of ways and none of them flattering given the tone of voice she had used, so she was quite pleased with herself.
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Liliana Bannister
You're one to talk.
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Liliana Bannister
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Atlas Primred, Pecari
December 27, 2013 8:44 PM
Hey, at least I'm making an effort. by Atlas Primred, Pecari
Atlas scooped up some mashed potatoes and picked out a piece of grilled chicken while he listened to Liliana. "You know you don't need to celebrate Christmas for that," he replied about Santa as he began cutting into his chicken. He thought about some of his friends that still believed in Santa despite having different religious beliefs. He himself also enjoyed learning about their religious holidays and what they meant. In addition, having a dad that worked in a University made it easy to participate in a wide arrange of cultural events that students from around the world put on. "Perhaps things are different in England," he thought to himself as he continued to eat and listen to Liliana. He chucked at her remark about him receiving his own lump of coal. He thought it was quite funny how polite she was for someone who, at the same time, was obviously mad at him for something. Although he still was clueless as to what her problem with him was.Atlas had been humoring her up to that point; however the question she asked was obviously supposed to be hurtful. It was enough to push him past what even he was able to tolerate. He dropped his utensils loudly on his plate and turned in his seat so he could face her clearly. He hated everything about this question. All it's possible meanings, and how every one of them hit home. It could have been referring to if she thought he was a boy or not. This was the type of question that usually got him into fights with other boys who mocked him for his close relationship with his sister. It could mean what ethnicity he was, which although he was fairly sure he was Japanese, as an adopted child he had no definite answer to give. Worst of all, it could mean how much magic blood he had in him. He had stumbled upon, and quickly got absorbed into, a history book about the magical world that talked about a few of the topics he had been curious about since he came to Sonora. One of them was on the common prejudice many people in the magical community had about "muggle born" witches and wizards. Unfortunately, this only reminded him of his birth mom, a person he tried constantly to forget ever existed. He looked at her sternly with fire in his eyes and answered confidently to what he knew in his heart he was. "What I am,” he said mimicking Liliana, from her tone right down to her accent, “is a big brother."
Instinctually he shot back a retort, hoping it would end this silly situation she had wrapped him up in. "What you are is a complete contradiction," he continued, not trying in the slightest to hide the annoyance in his voice. "I tried to make friends with you at the game but all you did was ignore me. It doesn't take a genius to know that conflicts are never resolved like that! If I did something to you then I’m really sorry. But until you use your words to tell me what’s bugging you, I’m not going to understand,” he said trying to sound as sincere as possible without yelling. He really didn't want to further the conflict any further, however he was really bothered by her attitude. Even Katie knew how to communicate her feelings, so why was this girl being so weird. Atlas gazed at her once more. He was hoping that he would be able to look her strait in the eyes. If eyes where the window to the soul, he wanted a close look at Liliana's. Maybe he would be able to see something unexpected in the eyes of the Snow Princess. Then again maybe not.
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Atlas Primred, Pecari
Hey, at least I'm making an effort.
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Atlas Primred, Pecari
0
5
Liliana Bannister
December 30, 2013 9:12 PM
I'd hardly call that an effort. by Liliana Bannister
Liliana tried not to express her irritation when Atlas shared the information about coal and Christmas. It was ridiculous for his to even say that. Why would a Jewish witch hang up a stocking on Christmas Eve? It didn't make any sense. She restrained herself from snapping at him when he chuckled and instead maintained her icy look. She didn't like when he mimicked her British accent as he made her voice sound loads more clipped than she believed it to be but she let it go because she knew a good argument wasn't won if a person gave into personal digs. She let him say his piece before raising her eyebrows calmly at how Atlas was trying to deal with the situation. He sounded like her grandfather trying to reason with her cousins during one of their spats and she nearly laughed at him for sounding so ridiculously old."I don't really know if I want to. Someone with as bad a memory as yours might not be able to recall this conversation at all in an hour or so. Perhaps you ought to seek some help with your condition," she stressed the last word in a concerned tone of voice as if she was really worried he was afflicted by that muggle disease she'd heard of that caused memory impairments. To be honest she could care less though it did hurt he had forgotten her so easily. Luckily for her, she had inherited her grandmother's talent of voice acting and was able to sound convincingly like she was seriously distraught about his state of mind. He was obviously trying to play the good angel card and if she snapped back angrily now it would only make her look bad.
"Do you eat fish?" she asked trying to sound as pleasant as she could. "I've heard that fish can help restore one's memory." She searched the table for some salmon as she was hungry for it as well. "Leafy greens such as spinach or foods high in vitamin E like Avacado can help as well, though I don't seem to see any of that on the table at all." She reached for some salad that she noticed a few pieces of spinach in and didn't ask Atlas before dumping some on his plate followed shortly by some salad dressing that looked a tad oily. "There, that should help you." She smiled at him prettily before adding the salmon, salad, and dressing to her own plate. "Eat up."
She took a large bite of the salad followed by a piece of salmon and nearly let her facade fall- the taste was exactly what she had been missing and she felt her insides cheer in happiness at the delectable foods she was eating.
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Liliana Bannister
I'd hardly call that an effort.
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Liliana Bannister
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Atlas Primred, Pecari
January 04, 2014 11:44 PM
Look who is talking. by Atlas Primred, Pecari
“Condition?...” he said with a slight grin of irritation. Atlas was dumbfounded. She didn’t seem to want to mend bridges at all. She really was a Snow Princess. “Ugh, why does she have to be so confusing,” he thought to himself. Before he was able to say anything, suddenly her tone changed as she asked if he wanted fish and went on to lecture him on spinach of all things before finally piling some on his plate, complete Italian dressing.Atlas just stared blankly as the event transpired. Although he couldn’t keep a strait face for long before he started to giggle. “You are lecturing me about plants,” he managed to say through his laughter. He had had similar conversations so many times at the dinner table growing up that he couldn’t help but laugh. His laughter turned to chuckles as he began to control himself. “Sorry,” he said, “its just funny, you sounded like my dad, he is a botany professor. And thank you for dishing me up,” Atlas replied with a grin. “You are so thoughtful, and yes I do like fish, thank you for offering,” he continued while he reached over and stole a bite of fish from her plate. “Yum! Something about this fish is extra tasty,” he said looking over at her.
Talking with her, even if it was more of bickering, felt so natural. Atlas took a bite of the salad she had so painstakingly made up for him. This was the longest conversation he had felt at Sonora since starting there last fall. He knew he would really have to suck up all his pride if he wanted a chance of salvaging any type of friendship. Perhaps she was upset for not only his actions, but for him having had forgot her entirely. Atlas was never really one to stand out so it never mattered to him if anyone remembered him. However, he never thought about how she might have felt about the entire situation. Atlas began slowly, “As much as I enjoy this little war we have going on…. I really do feel bad about forgetting you, and um whatever I did.” His cheeks began to redden slightly from nervousness, “So.. how about a compromise? You apologize for being a wet blanket at the game, and I will apologize again. I’ll even do something extra as proof of how sorry I am,” he added, trying to sweeten the deal. “As long as its within reason,” he inserted quickly, just in case she was getting any ideas that would permanently destroy his image. He wondered if she would even accept his offer. From how things had been progressing he wouldn’t be surprised if she just continued to burry him in food, or shoot him more icy cold looks.
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Atlas Primred, Pecari
Look who is talking.
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Atlas Primred, Pecari
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Liliana Bannister
January 21, 2014 3:54 AM
I like destruction, what can I say? by Liliana Bannister
Liliana gave Atlas a smart nod of her head as he repeated the last word of her thinly veiled insult before continuing on asking if he ate fish. He kind of gave her a vacant look which made Liliana wonder if he was all there in the head. Perhaps he really did have a condition that made him miss parts of conversations or tune out for awhile without noticing. Perhaps that was why he had forgotten her. However, her nice thoughts of him quickly turned sour when he began to laugh at her.She took another bite of her fish to calm herself and give herself some time to think. She decided not to respond to the laughter and instead focus on the positive light on the situation. If she could get him to like her she could gain his trust and get him back. Eventually. She didn't like his rude behavior and though she knew hers was less than sweet, she also knew that she wasn't normally like this. Atlas just had a way of getting under her skin. "Fish is always tasty," Liliana replied, hoping they could continue the conversation in that vein. However, Atlas had different ideas. Apparently he was of the talking variety and thought they ought to talk out their little disagreement.
"Sure thing," she responded deciding she might take advantage of his offering to do her a favor. "Perhaps we can start by apologizing for calling me a wet blanket or whatever other nasty name I'm sure you've come up with? Now that you know the some of the reasoning behind the attitude, you might be able to understand a little better?" She smiled sweetly at him. "And perhaps I can apologize for actually wanting to watch my opponents to see what they would be like when we played them and also for calling you an old man and a rude little boy- in my head of course. I would never go around gossiping."
At least that part was 100% true, Liliana detested gossiping and though she loved her mother always found one reason or another for leaving the room when she and the aunts felt the need to express their displeasure over what so-and-so wore to the last ball. "Now, as for that favor. I'll hold on to it, never know when I might need something." She winked at him conspiratorially, thinking of all the ways she could use the favor to her advantage including, but not limited to, a few things that were border line insane but sounded like they'd be great fun for the two of them such as adventuring around the world with him as her own personal sherpa.
"Now, what sorts of things do you like to do for fun other than going around and policing others on the politics of polite behavior?" Liliana made sure that this last part sounded like she was genuinely teasing him, a sort of endearing way of expressing that she liked someone. It was a tone of voice she often used with her cousins whilst teasing them, so if she and Atlas had really just made up, she didn't see why she couldn't talk to him like that either. Just to be safe though, she gave him a light nudge- she didn't need him getting up in arms over a little comment she had just made, especially not if she had just succeeded in getting him to owe her a favor.
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Liliana Bannister
I like destruction, what can I say?
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Liliana Bannister
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5